The Interrogation

Recap

Majid Nassar is taken under heavy guard to a prison cell. Kirkman and Aaron are watching the news about the capture. Emily shows up. They are heading to the Governor's Summit.

On the way they run into Mike who is leaving for the evening...bowling with his brother.

Kirkman greets Alex who just came off the elevator. They head into the dinner.

Seth is holding court with some of the reporters. He flirts with one of them, one he hasn't seen before with the Chronicle. Kirkman enters the room. Aaron and Emily greet Congressman MacLeish. They offer him the VP job. This job he's interested in.

Kirkman is greeting all the governors. He takes the podium after being greeted by a governor who questioned his arresting Gov. Royce.

Kirkman talks about rebuilding the Congress, Senate, and the country. Kirkman lets the crowd know that he's a register independent. He talks about the opportunity to change the American political landscape.

Just as he's really getting into the speech about working together, gunshots ring out. It's chaos. Gunshots are coming from outside the room..hitting the outside of the building. The Secret Service rush him out.

Outside, Mike meets with all the other Secret Service hunting for the gunman. They believe it's one gunman. Mike runs into the guy, they exchange gunfire and Mike is hit.

In a room in the White House, Kirkman is pacing. He demands to know what is happening with Mike. Seth updates him. Mike was hit twice. Once bullet caught by the Kevlar vest, but the other hit an artery.

What's interesting is if someone was shooting at the White House, and it's unclear if they guy has actually been caught, why is the President still in the White House. Why haven't they moved him somewhere else? And, have they caught the gunman?

Apparently, the gunman is dead. He was shot and killed by Ritter. The gunman is a Muslim and right before he went gun happy, he went on social media and pledged his allegiance to Majid Nassar. No surprise there.

Kirkman is shocked.

Kirkman is meeting with the military and others in the PEOC. One of the guys wants to move Nassar off U.S. soil and onto a black site. Jason doesn't believe enhanced interrogation works. The two argue. Eventually, Kirkman gives Jason and the FBI 24 hours to make progress with the guy.

Emily runs into Jason at the White House. She tells him she wants to start the vetting process on new VP candidate MacLeish. Does Jason say anything about MacLeish's possible involvement in the Capitol bombing? No, of course not. The only thing Jason says is that it's going to take some time with everything else going on.

Emily gets a phone call.

Kirkman learns that Mike's surgery went well. He shares the news with Alex. Alex tells him he kept the kids at home. He tells her the security has been raised across the board. Emily comes in and tells Kirkman that the plane with the Syrian refugees has landed in MIami , but the governor won't let the refugees off the plane.

Kirkman tells Emily to find Governor Rivera.

Jason tells Hannah about MacLeish for VP. She urges him to stop the process, but he hedges. He asks if she's heard any more from the anonymous caller. He wants her to get Nassar to admit he didn't bomb the Capitol.

Kirkman and Alex meets with Rivera about the Syrian refugees. He tells Kirkman he had agreed to let them come to Florida, but that was before the Nassar sympathizer fired on the White House. Kirkman tries to convince him that the attack had nothing to do with the people on the plane.

He's insistent that despite the screening process, it's not 100% positive that one of them isn't intent on harming the American people.

Despite the Kirkmans' urging, Rivera says he's representing the people of Florida. They're scared, and they don't want the refugees released into their state.

Afterward, Aaron tries to assuage the Kirkmans. He tells them they have to give Rivera time, but Kirkman says they don't have time. Kirkman wants Aaron to find another state to land the plane in. Emily insists Kirkman get back on track with the governors. Alex says she'll help out so that Kirkman can focus on what he needs to focus on.

Kirkman enters the meeting chamber with the governors. The lady governor who confronted him earlier stands up confronts him again. She knows nothing about him and that concerns her. She wants him to answer questions about himself. If his answers are appeasing, he'll get his Senate appointees. What? So she's holding up getting the government back in working order because she doesn't know the president well enough? Ridiculous.

In another room, Aaron and Emily discuss with Kirkman about the issue at hand. They don't believe he should have to be questioned about his legitimacy as president. Despite their disapproval about the whole idea, Kirkman wants to go ahead with it. Of course.

Seth is answering questions about Nassar when the Chronicle reporter asks him about the governors summit.After the conference is over, she goes up to Seth to ask if they had a "thing" last night. Seth is uncomfortable, but agrees that they had a "thing." He thinks it's awkward because she's the press, but she asks him out for a drink anyway. He agrees.

Aaron asks to talk to Alex alone. He doesn't want Alex finding another state to land the refugees in until things stabilize with the governors. She refuses to back down saying it's a humanitarian issue and being an immigration attorney, whe will counsel her husband through the crisis and Aaron can manage the political fallout, if any.

Hannah and Jason show up at the prison where Nassar is being held. Hannah has one shot to get the answers she needs. her name is being kept off the log.

While Hannah is preparing for her interrogation, we intercut to Kirkman walking towards his.

Jason and Hannah begin their talk with Nassar. Nassar makes it clear he's not intimidated by either of them.

The interrogation of President Kirkman begins. Seriously. What is the purpose of this. He's there by law, and he's trying to get the government up and running, yet these governors want to waste time asking him questions like, "Do you consider yourself and impulsive man?" Dumb.

He gets a question about Gen. Cochrane and Gov. Royce. The lady Gov. questions his actions during his tenure as HUD secretary.

Jason and Hannah try to get Nassar to admit he didn't bomb the Capitol. they call him out on attaching his name to events that he never really did.

Kirkman gets support from another governor., but gets attacked from Gov. Rivera who claims Kirkman has no real experience to run the White House. Sounds like our current political situation. The lady governor continues her attack. She says if President Richmond didn't want him as HUD Secretary anymore, why should she want him as her President, that he being designated survivor was a formality.

Kirkman completely backs down and walks out of the room, telling her and the rest of the governors that maybe he shouldn't be president. Seriously? We're back to the woe is me Kirkman? Her name is Governor Nichols.

Aaron and Seth admonishes Kirkman for backing down. He wants him to go back and fight. he gives Kirkman a pep talk. Seth agrees. Alex shows up to tell him one of the refugees is pregnant and needs to be released from the plane immediately. Kirkman tells her that Gov. Rivera won't be listening to him and she needs to handle it.

Back at the prison, Hannah continues her interrogation. She tells him about the undetonated bomb and that MacLeish is still alive. Why did he want MacLeish dead? Why is he taking credit for something he didn't do? But, didn't she just answer that earlier...that he likes to attach his name to events he wasn't responsible for?

Alex is trying to convince Gov. Rivera to let the pregnant woman who is in labor off the plane. He agrees to let her and the husband off the plane, but that everyone else has to go back to Istanbul.

Hannah and Jason continue their questioning. They let him know they know about his family. As expected, he's going to start answering questions. He took the credit so that the guy could remain anonymous. Hannah gets Nassar to admit the name of the guy who hired him was called "Cataran."

Kirkman is back in the governors room...more confident than ever. Thanks Aaron for a great pep talk! He makes a great speech about moving forward together or he needs to step down. Gov. Nichols approaches him to tell him it's nice to hear him talk about what he's going to do, but he needs to show them what he can do. She wants him to send the Syrian refugees back and suspend immigration from everywhere until the country feels safe again. Why is she being so unreasonable? Are there really people out there who feel that way? Of course there are. Once again, look at our current situation.

She and Gov. Rivera tell him he has to choose whether he wants immigration or a Congress. Kirkman is speechless.

Kirkman takes Gov.'s. Nichols and Rivera into a private room for more discussion. He wants to know if he agrees to ban all immigration, that the rest of the governors will get behind him. Nichols says a majority will. Is Kirkman really going to agree to this? Are these governors for real? Bargaining for the future of the country?

Jason and Hannah get back to the office and search the database for "Katalan" or whatever name Nassar gave them, but find nothing. Do they really think the guy would give Nassar his real name? C'mon people.

Emily is giving Aaron a compliment. He tells her he started investigating MacLeish and he's looking very VPish. Little do they know.

Alex is all excited when she greets Kirkman. She tells him she got the Gov. of Missouri to take the Syrian plane. He closes the door and tells her about him making a deal about the refugees. Wow. So he did agree to it.

Alex isn't happy. She tells him she's not angry at the president, but disappointed in her husband. How can he really separate the two? He has to make decisions. Albeit that was a stupid one. And it was stupid for the governors to make an ultimatum like that..

Aaron and Emily come to Kirkman with the good news about MacLeish. They tell him the FBI was too busy, so Aaron ran his own background check. Kirkman wants to get to know MacLeish better and wants to invite him and his wife for dinner at the White House. Kirkman is not being himself and Emily notices something is wrong. She asks, but Kirkman says everything is okay.

Kirkman calls Mike at the hospital. Seth meets up with the reporter with the Chronicle. He tells her he doesn't have time, but invites her to have a drink with him in his office. She wants to ask a question first. She needs a comment. She tells him she has a source who says Leo Kirkman isn't the President's son. At teh prison, Jason gets a call about Nassar. Alex is in the residence watching the news. Kirkman got his Congress. She's still disappointed and makes it clear to him. He tells her about the MacLeish dinner.